Special conditions and requirements

Running sheets

The supervisor must keep a running sheet that records the following information for each bingo game:

the serial numbers of the tickets sold

the total number of tickets available to be

the number of tickets sold

the number of charges made for a visually-impaired person to enter the game (a visually-impaired person who brings approved braille ticket(s) to a session of bingo will be charged the same price for each of the game(s) in that session as if they had purchased tickets from that location)

the gross receipts

the value of prizes paid

the gross profit.

A running sheet must be kept with the following information for each bingo session:

the expenses paid

the opening balance, and closing balance of any jackpot pool, and the date which the jackpot pool was carried forward

the book number of any unsold book between the lowest book number for the session and the highest book number for the session (wasted book numbers).

A new bingo game cannot start until the running sheet for the previous game is completed.

Running sheets must be kept for three years after the games are recorded.

Unsold tickets

A community or charitable organisation must retain unsold tickets for six months after the date of the annual return.

Banking requirements

A single account, as approved by the VCGLR, must be maintained at an authorised deposit-taking institution in Victoria for all transactions relating to bingo.

This account must be established in the organisation's name and be used for all financial transactions relating to the conduct of bingo and any other minor gaming activity. The records of this account must be kept for three years after the completion of the transactions to which they relate and be made available to the VCGLR on request.

A community or charitable organisation must pay the gross proceeds from a session (less the amount of any jackpot pool retained for distribution as prize money in a later session in a jackpot sequence) into an approved account:

Annual return

A community or charitable organisation must submit to the VCGLR an annual return for the period of 1 July to 30 June. The return should include:

gross receipts

total expenses (including catering and any fees paid to a bingo centre operator)

serial numbers of any unsold tickets

prizes paid

the net proceeds of bingo

the balance of each jackpot pool, if any, at the end of that month.

The annual return must be completed by 1 October each year.

This return is different to the annual return that bingo centre operators need to complete. Information about this is available on our website. There is also a link to the online lodgement system that bingo centre operators use to lodge their annual returns.

Requirements concerning prizes

The amount of prizes distributed in a bingo game must be:

no less than 20 per cent of the gross receipts for the game

in any period of seven consecutive days must be not less than 50 per cent and not more than 90 per cent of the total of the gross receipts for all bingo games in all sessions conducted in that period.

All prize money won in a game must be paid at the end of the game in cash, where the prize is less than $1000, or if the winner requests it or the prize is $1000 or more, by cheque not payable in cash.

Please note: the above requirements do not apply where no fee is being charged, directly or indirectly, to play the bingo games or where the whole of the gross receipts from the session of bingo is distributed as prizes during that session.

Large prizes

If you plan to conduct a session at which the prize value will or is expected to exceed $20,000, you must advise the VCGLR by submitting a 'Notification of bingo prizes in excess of $20,000' application form at least three business days beforehand.

Jackpots

Part of the gross receipts of one or more games in a session may be held in a jackpot pool for distribution as prize money:

in a later game in that session

in a game in a later session in a rolling jackpot sequence.

Note: Where more than one jackpot pool is maintained at once, only one of the jackpot pools may be in operation in a session.

Before the start of the first game in a session with a jackpot, the caller must announce:

the game or games in which some or all of the jackpot pool will be distributed and the method of distribution

if the jackpot is part of a rolling jackpot, the date of the session from which the jackpot pool is carried forward and the balance carried forward from that session.

After the last game in a session of games in a rolling jackpot sequence, the caller must announce:

the closing balance of the jackpot pool

the time, date and place of the next session in the sequence.

Pooling schemes

A pooling scheme, which usually operates for three years, is an arrangement, in which a person or organisation derives a direct or indirect benefit from the gross proceeds from a session of bingo games, and that person is not the holder of a minor gaming permit for that session.

Where bingo is played in a bingo centre, the bingo centre operator may charge a community or charitable organisation for expenses up to a set limit.

The prescribed maximum amount in relation to each session is:

if the session is in a rolling jackpot sequence, 60 per cent of the amount remaining after deducting from the gross proceeds for that session the amount paid into the jackpot pool for distribution as prize money in letter session in a rolling jackpot sequence.

in all other cases, 60 per cent of the gross proceeds of the session.

Bingo centre returns

Under the Gambling Regulation Act 2003, all bingo centre operators are required to submit a return covering all sessions of bingo conducted at the bingo centre each financial year.

These returns must be lodged with the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation (VCGLR) each year, by 30 September.

How to lodge

1. Ensure that you have all the information with you in order to complete the bingo centre return

2. Login to the online lodgement system with your username and password that was supplied to you. The username and password are case sensitive. If you have lost these details, send an email to contact@vcglr.vic.gov.au and specify that it is for the bingo centre return login.

3. Once you have successfully logged into the system, remember to change your password. Make a note of the password as you will be required to reconfirm it later.

4. Your profile screen will appear with your contact details. Please check your details and amend if necessary via the 'amend contact details' link in the top right of the screen.

5. Your profile screen also contains a drop down menu 'section 8.5.38 returns to the Commission - Statement - Year'. Select this option to access the current year web page. Read the instructions on this page, and then commence entering the details for each community and charitable organisation for which the bingo centre conducted bingo sessions.

6. You will have the option of checking all your details and printing a copy of your statement. After your press 'submit' you are able to go back and print a copy but you cannot change any of the information.